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Club América is a Mexican
football club based in Mexico City, competing in the Primera
División. América is owned by Emilio Azcárraga, who owns Televisa, making it the richest club in Mexico, and
the richest outside Europe. América and
rivals Chivas share the
distinction of being the one the most successful teams in the
Mexican first division - América has ten championships, behind
Chivas with eleven. Despite not being the oldest Mexican club,
América has achieved international glory. América has eight
FIFA recognized international titles, the most of any
team from the CONCACAF region. Two
other Mexican clubs, Cruz Azul
and Pachuca, follow with five
each.

América and Chivas share a long-standing rivalry. Their meetings,
which have become known as Clásicos, are played at least twice
a year and signal a national derby. Having never been relegated to
the league's second division, they are the only two clubs to have
been in the first division of the Mexican football league from the
very beginning. The team mascot, as well as their nickname, is the
eagle or Águila; it is flown around the stadium during
half-time.

Foundation

First badge 1916

By 1916, football was already a popular sport in Mexico,
particularly amongst college students in Mexico City. College
students from Colegio Mascarones and Colegio Marista
De La Perpetua formed two football teams with the names
Récord and Colón. On October 12, 1916, the two
squads decided to join to make a more competitive squad. Many names
were considered for this new squad, but finally, Pedro “Cheto”
Quintanilla, one of the players, suggested América since they had
formed the team on Columbus Day
(Dia de las Américas). The players agreed and soon
designed a crest which had the map of the Americas with a 'C' for
Club and an 'A' for América on each side. After they had created
their logo, the players had to decide on their team colors. Rafael
Garza Gutiérrez went to get some of his father’s navy blue trousers
and a yellow shirt and it was decided amongst the group that those
would be the club's colors.

Amateur Era

badge 1930s

In 1916, Club América had to prove itself in order to be accepted
into the Mexican League, which primarily consisted of foreign
players. At the time, América was the only team in Mexico City with
an all-Mexican club. Necaxa, Atlante, Real España, Germania, and Asturias
were already members of the Liga Mayor De La Ciudad.
América's acceptance into the league depended on 3 games. In order
to be accepted, América could not lose any of the three games. To
the surprise of many, América won two games and tied the third.
América was accepted as a result and formed part of the
league.

In 1918, the team changed its name to Club Unión due to bad results
with the original name. The new name didn’t fare too well either
and was changed back to América in 1920. From 1924 to 1928, América
was crowned league champion and was able to attract impressive
crowds. In 1926, América became the first Mexican club to play
outside of Mexico. Aside from broadening their horizons, Club
América along with Atlante petitioned to reduce the number of
foreign players in the league. Shortly after the Mexican
Football Federation was formed in 1928, Rafael Garza Gutiérrez
, América's founder, was designated as the National Team head
coach. Most of the Mexican national team that participated in the
1928 Olympics and 1930 World Cup
were players that played for América.

Professional Era

1940s Mexican League Beginnings

Up until 1942, every league in Mexico was considered a regional
league even though the league in Mexico City was considered the
strongest of them all. In 1942-43, the first National League was
established and it was known as the Liga Mayor (Major League). Club
América wasn't the team it had been during the 1920s on through the
early 1930s. Aging players, lack of resources, and lack of interest
took its toll on the club which led the team to become a bottom
feeder for much of the beginning stages of the professional
era7.

1950s-60s First League Title

In 1956, the club was sold to soft drink manufacturer Jarritos. The new owner was trying to build upon
the club's National Cup titles in 1954 and 1955 against Guadalajara, their soon to be
rival. To the dismay of many, the owner failed to build upon the
previous success and onJuly 221959, Emilio Azcárraga Milmo, owner of Telesistema
Mexicano (Televisa), bought América from
Isaac Bessudo.

It is said in Mexico that the club was founded in 1916, but reborn
in 1959, with the vision and values that were set forth by the son
of Televisa's founder, Emilio
Azcárraga Milmo. The vision he embarked upon was to convert
football into a form of entertainment for the masses. Following the
acquisition, Azcárraga told his players, "I do not know much about
football, but I do know a lot about business, and this, gentlemen,
will be a business7".

It was obvious to Emilio Azcárraga that football in Mexico needed
an antagonist. The new owner strived to be the villain. Soon after,
the club started to spend obscene amounts of money in acquiring
foreign talents, which offended fans. Emilio Azcárraga hired the
Mexican League's most successful football executive of that time,
Guillermo Cañedo, as President. Ignacio Trelles was hired as head
coach. It was then that Emilio Azcárraga revolutionized the game of
fútbol in Mexico. He laid down a foundation for the club’s future
by investing in scouting, player development, infrastructure, and
merchandising7. He marketed his team
both at the national and international level which allowed the club
to enjoy financial growth. Under Azcárraga, the team has won 10
League championships, the first being the 1965-1966 season.

1977 First Copa Interamericana

In 1977, América participated in their first Copa Interamericana, playing against
Boca Juniors. América would win the
championship by a score of 2-1, with a last second free-kick goal
by Chilean player Carlos Reinoso.
That match
would become one of the most famouse in history for the club, the
competition, and the Estadio Azteca. América would become the first team from
México and from the CONCACAF region to win the competition.

1980s The Golden Age 1983-1991

During the 80s America was an unforgettable team. They were always
considered a favorite to win the championship in any tournament
they participated in. They won the league five
times, including three consecutive titles: the 1983-84 season,
the 1984-85 season, the Prode 1985, the 1987-88 and the 1988-89
season. They also won the Mexican Super Cup twice, in 1987-88 and
1988-89. And they won the 1987 CONCACAF Champions' Cup.
During this era America was nicknamed Super Águilas as they won 5
league championships including 3 of which were against their arch
rivals (Chivas, Cruz Azul, and Pumas). Yet, after being Mexico's
Team of the decade, it also became the most hated during this
season. Fans who opposed Club America during the 1980s were clearly
opposing the rules that were being bent favoring America. For
instance, the 1985 season was the shortest in history due to the
1985 Mexico City earthquake. The terrible refereeing in the 1987-88
final against Pumas favored America even though Pumas won 1-0. The
fans of América replied to this hatred by creating the slogan which
in Spanish it became known as: "Odiame mas", which in
English translates into "Hate Me Some More" or simply
"Hate Me even More".

1990s A Decade to Forget

The '90s would be a decade to forget for fans of the yellow clad
warriors, with nothing to show for except a CONCACAF Cup in 1990,
an Interamericana Cup Championship in 1993, and a CONCACAF Cup Championship in 1992. Years came and
went with Televisa spending exorbitant amounts of money on both
Mexican and South American players. There were even a few European
and African players, as well. This was done with a view to
returning the club to its former glory. As it turned out, it was as
nothing more than currency that was not well spent, to say the
least. Internationally renowned coaches and executives were also
brought to the team. This, too, produced no results which just
added to the team's woes. The only bright spots of the decade were
the appearance of new young stars who were developed in the club's
youth squad. These included players like Cuauhtémoc Blanco and Germán Villa that would be instrumental to
the team's success later on.

2000s A new century

The new millennium brought renewed hope for Club América's fans,
who would be rewarded quickly, with a CONCACAF Giants cup in 2001,
the first League championship in 13 years in the summer of 2002,
and the team's tenth overall league title in 2005.

During 2008 the Clausura
2008 saw América end in last place in the general standings.
This had not been seen since the mid 1950s. In the first 5 months
of 2008, América was showered with 12 defeats, 2 draws and 3
victories, along with three straight championships without
qualifying for the playoffs. The coach at the time was Ruben Omar Romano, who was one of the
worst coaches the club has ever had. Ironically, after
being replaced by Juan Antonio Luna, América got their third
victory of the Clausura over Monterrey 1-0.Then América played well in the Copa
Libertadores, beating Brazilian side Flamengo 3-0, thus advancing to the quarter-finals.
They were later eliminated from the tournament in the
semi-finals.

In the Apertura
2008, América saw a lot of changes to their coaching staff and
squad. Guillermo Cañedo White was removed from presidency of the
club, and Michel Bauer was named the new president. Bauer's first
signing was the new coach, Ramon Diaz.
There were also many signings of new players, such as Alfredo Moreno from San
Luis, Enrique Vera from LDU Quito, and Juan
Carlos Medina of Atlas. The recovery of an
injured Federico Insua was also a
good sign for the club. Although they have signed very talented
players, the results were poor, finishing with only 21 points, and
losing to arch-rival, Chivas.

2009

After failing to qualify for the playoffs for a fourth straight
time, América once again spent a ridiculous amount of money for
players.América's first competition of 2009 was
the InterLiga, in which the winner
qualified for the next Copa
Libertadores. They started off the tournament against rival
Chivas. The match ended in a 1-1 draw. Their
next match would be against Tigres UANL.
The match ended up 3-1, a victory for Las Aguilas. They would then
have to beat Atlas to keep fighting for a spot
at the South American tournament. They would eventually lose 4-1,
despite a 1-0 lead.For not qualifying for the Libertadores, Ramon
Diaz's job would be decided by the next four matches América played
in the up coming Clausura tournament. Diaz would eventually be
sacked as coach. The new coach was Jesus
Ramirez. Even with a new coach, América failed to qualify for
the playoffs for a fifth straight time, finishing 8th place in the
general standings with 23 points.

For the Apertura 2009, América was in danger of being regulated to
the second division, but thanks to good results, they did not have
to worry about being regulated. They finished second in their
group, and fourth in the general standings. After qualifying for
the playoffs, they were quickly eliminated by CF Monterrey on a 2-1 aggregate score.

A modern lighting system was inaugurated on June 5, 1966 with the
first night game between Valencia C.F.
and Necaxa. The first goal of the game was scored by
HonduranJosé
Cardona. In this game, Roberto Martínez o Caña Brava
scored the first goal made by the Mexican team. The final score was
3-1 in favor of Valencia C.F..

There is a Commemorative plaque
with the names of the first goal scorer in the first daylight match
and in the first night game.

Popularity

According
to the results of a February 2009 poll, América is the most popular
football club in Mexico with 10.5%,
closely follow by C.D.Guadalajara who has 10.0%, the poll
also shows that América is the most hated team with 43.1% and is
once again followed by C.D.Guadalajara who has 16.1%.

Supporters

América have substantial Ultras fan support
in the form of barras, the most popular of which is called
La Monumental. This barra is unique in that it was not
established or even organized by the fans, but rather was created
by Javier Pérez Teuffer, the club's president at the time, who
wanted a more family-oriented barra.

Club records

First Mexican team to get to the second round of the Copa
Libertadores de America in 1998.

First
Mexican team to get a point in the Copa Libertadores de America
outside México against
Vasco da Gama, the
ending score was 1-1.

Has participated in most international competitions out of all
Mexican teams, with 20.

Along with the Guadalajara, is the only club to
have played all the matches in the Mexican First Division.

Historical Record of most games without losing in Mexican
Football, 28. (Closing Apertura 2005 - Opening Clausura 2005). The
former record was 24 games without losing in 1971-1972.

Mexican team with most points in one short season, 43 (Apertura
2002).

First Mexican team to complete 1000 victories in the Opening of
the 2002 playing against Pumas of the UNAM Giving an olympic round
in stage CU.

Only team of CONCACAF that has won the Inter-American Cup 2
times, in 1978 and 1991.

Winner of the most Champions Cup of CONCACAF, along with Cruz
Azul, both with 5 titles each.

Only team of CONCACAF that has won arguably the most important
international matches in the region:

*Champions Cup of the CONCACAF

Has participated in more Copa Libertadores than any other
Mexican team.(Partly due to the fact that the Campeon and Sub
Campeon of the Mexican Primera Division go on to play in the
CONCACAF Champions League)

IFFHS RECORDS:

*First Mexican team in the top 10 of the Club World Ranking of
the IFFHS (December 2007).

*First non-European and South American team in being World-wide
Club of the month to win the award 2 times: August 2001 and May
2002.